S03.E08: But for the Grace

[thewhiteowl]

Bull takes on a pro bono client who was poorly advised to take a plea on a misdemeanor assault charge.

[Dowel Jones]

For a moment I thought the wife was going for the chokehold on Mr. Angry there at the end of the trial. 

Poor police work (as usual for this show).  Nobody else interviewed, no looking at cell phone cameras. The PD should have at least asked her boss for some guidance before the hearing, so she could put it on him because of her inexperience, but I understand most PD's are already overworked, so maybe that was somewhat accurate.

I assume the doctor gone rogue plot will be continued, with an assist from TAC, of course. And I assume that there will be at least some investigation into this event, what with all the people in the restaurant that saw him do that.

[HurricaneVal]

I love Benny.  He's the best part of this show.  He destroyed two young attorney's careers last night.  The PD may recover--I like to think Benny is going to put a good word in for her at the bar association--but the ADA is going to have to see if the prosecutor's office in Buffalo needs a new junior prosecutor.

As far as the case of the week, I was thinking when the ADA cut off the recorded phone call so abruptly that Benny was going to ask for the recording to continue, and there find some piece of evidence, or some hook he could use to get the defendant off.  But that didn't happen, and I do like the way it ended up going.

[mythoughtis]

My dvr cut off after 21 minutes( no idea why). Was there anything that I missed that didn’t have to do with the case of the week? 

[LuvMyShows]

OMG, the ending with the hubby and wife reconciliation was so schmaltzy!  And in reality, there's no way on earth the jury would have reached that verdict so quickly.  

[CheshireCat]

I thought this one was a weak episode. Why did the closing argument have to be so long? Wouldn't they have had one or two experts testify as to what could have caused the brain injury? (A fall, a pre-existing condition etc). And since everyone got arrested woudn't they also have been subject to a breath-alizer test? So, wouldn't it be on the record that the defendent wasn't drunk but the other guy was/guys were?

 

On ‎13‎.‎11‎.‎2018 at 3:29 AM, Dowel Jones said:

I assume the doctor gone rogue plot will be continued, with an assist from TAC, of course. And I assume that there will be at least some investigation into this event, what with all the people in the restaurant that saw him do that.

The fact that he's not trying to get a medical license and does not have a credit card makes me wonder if he's going to turn out to be an undocumented immigrant. Either that or he is going to get sued for practicing without a license.

[Dowel Jones]

7 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

Wouldn't they have had one or two experts testify as to what could have caused the brain injury? (A fall, a pre-existing condition etc).

In his closing argument Benny mentioned that they had been there a week, so I just handwaved that off, figuring a lot of testimony took place off camera.

[Novel8]

I'm finding the last 2 shows were below par...did not like or understand how in a space of a minute were able to acquit the last 2 verdicts of this show. May have had off scene background, but usually, the audience is allowed to see and hear it.

[CheshireCat]

2 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

In his closing argument Benny mentioned that they had been there a week, so I just handwaved that off, figuring a lot of testimony took place off camera.

Yes, but it didn't sound like they had any experts testify. He didn't say "as you heard the experts testifiy". He simply said that a number of things could have caused the brain injury.

Generally speaking, I don't think that the writers are very good at this court room stuff. But I don't think the show was intended to be what it is now, so that's not real surprise.

[JessDVD]

This one had glimmers of the original premise, with Marissa talking about the jurors over the headset and I liked that there wasn't the constant Benny looking to Bull thing. They've been working together for years. They should be talking about what kind of jurors they want beforehand and Benny should be able to determine if one is or isn't without constantly looking to Bull for confirmation. I'm so sure all the judges in the NYC courts just loooove Benny's constant turning during voir dire.

The last three or so weeks were really, really flimsy cases. Please, please tell me that actual prosecutors need more than a guilty plea for a punch, or DNA evidence under fingernails but no other evidence, and so on, to actually take someone to trial for murder. Investigation, sure, but the trial?? Please also tell me that the NYPD is more competent than presented here, for the crapwagon that all the investigation this season has been.

No way this side of Hades are we spending all this screen time on Danny's bed buddy for him to not be an important part of a case at a later time and the anvils of it being related to his immigration/citizenship status are quite large. I'm not sure if I should admit here that I even saw this movie but all I could think about in the restaurant was that Reese Witherspoon movie Just Like Heaven, where she does something similar in a restaurant after having amnesia or having died or something. 

[Loves2Dance]

If I know, in the first 5 minutes, that the guy was going to die of a TBI and he was going to be on the line for pleading guilty---either I'm clairvoyant or this season has become too predictable. Thinking it's the latter. Second episode in a row where I solved it in the first few minutes and got bored through the rest. 

[SuzieQ]

I like this show and am not sure why!  Michael Weatherly is insufferable and the cases are totally predictable, yet I watch every week.  I might need higher standards, lol.  

I do love Freddy Rodriguez and have since Six Feet Under.

[Loves2Dance]

1 hour ago, SuzieQ said:

I like this show and am not sure why!  Michael Weatherly is insufferable and the cases are totally predictable, yet I watch every week.  I might need higher standards, lol.  

I do love Freddy Rodriguez and have since Six Feet Under.

I watch for Chris Jackson. General George Washington makes me swoon...

[SuzieQ]

28 minutes ago, Loves2Dance said:

I watch for Chris Jackson. General George Washington makes me swoon...

I like him too!

[CheshireCat]

On ‎14‎.‎11‎.‎2018 at 3:28 PM, JessDVD said:

 Please also tell me that the NYPD is more competent than presented here, for the crapwagon that all the investigation this season has been.

To be fair, the cop did say that he followed protocol or whatever word he used. So, it seems the rules need changing.

 

In hindsight, considering how hard the guy who died hit his head on the pavement, I'm surprised that he wasn't bleeding and/or didn't have a concussion.

[Moxie Cat]

Benny's entire closing was for me: "oh yeah! What about that?" and "yeah! Why didn't someone bring that up?" I guess I can fanwank that every one of his points was brought up in testimony by a witness, but if it had been, I have to think they'd have been more positive about their odds at the conclusion. Was there a doctor's report following the guy hitting his head? What did it say? Was there a possibility that in the week between the incident and his death, could he have had a medical issue (or even another fall) that caused his death? Was it absolutely, 100% caused by the concussion? (Could any doctor expert witness say there was a possibility it wasn't?) And as mentioned upthread, could he have tripped and hit his head? Did we know for SURE that he fell and hit his head because he was pushed? How much had he had to drink?

Much of this was simply about creating reasonable doubt that the defendant absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt was responsible for the death, and given all of the above (which we didn't hear), I have to think that would have been enough - and especially combined with the backstory of the plea.

In the ADA's defense, I kept asking why the fantasy football board was evidence of anything. Personal ambition and motivation to get a guilty verdict, sure. But it didn't seem to me to be any kind of evidence that the ADA didn't believe the defendant wasn't guilty. In fact, the deal that was struck in the beginning of this episode probably happens far too often, especially when defendants don't have means. 

Does anyone out there watch For the People? That's another show that has a good, likable cast but often-arguably-presented cases. I used to watch Boston Legal, and while I'm sure that show had its flaws, I didn't find myself questioning how cases had been argued after the episodes - which I do far too often, afterwards, with Bull. 

[Sarah 103]

On 11/14/2018 at 3:28 PM, JessDVD said:

Please also tell me that the NYPD is more competent than presented here, for the crapwagon that all the investigation this season has been.

I don't know if you watch Blue Bloods, but I really, really want to see an episode of Bull that features the characters of Blue Bloods. Both shows are set in New York City so it's possible. 

[JessDVD]

19 minutes ago, Sarah 103 said:

I don't know if you watch Blue Bloods, but I really, really want to see an episode of Bull that features the characters of Blue Bloods. Both shows are set in New York City so it's possible. 

I'm in the middle of season 7, just watched several in a row tonight in fact. I agree that there needs to be a crossover. That Bull a few weeks ago with the police commissioner,  I lamented that it was not Tom Selleck. But if there were a crossover, I need competent NYPD, not what we see on Bull.

[Sarah 103]

50 minutes ago, JessDVD said:

I'm in the middle of season 7, just watched several in a row tonight in fact. I agree that there needs to be a crossover. That Bull a few weeks ago with the police commissioner,  I lamented that it was not Tom Selleck. But if there were a crossover, I need competent NYPD, not what we see on Bull.

I think I've got it. ADA Erin Reagan needs TAC for an incredibly important case. Another possibility is TAC needs a police detective to be an expert witness. TAC needs someone to talk about standard procedure/best practices. The person they were going to use cancels so they only have a little time to prep Danny Reagan, which does not go well. (This is based on the following screenplay advice: Who is the worst character to do a job? Have that character do the job because it will generate drama, tension, humor or some combination of the above). 

[sinkwriter]

Catching up on a few episodes... Bull's a pretty shitty psychologist if his response to his client legitimately freaking out about the possibility of losing his wife and his freedom for 20 years is to simply say, "If you're unhappy with the quality of representation you're getting..." Seriously?! Yes, he needs to calm down and stop showing so much anger in front of the jury, but behind the scenes, he's allowed to feel angry and scared, and if Bull can't help him through that, what kind of doctor is he?